Monthly Archives: February 2016

Hello chaps, quite an exciting update today – I’ve had a major push on my Frostgrave/Rogue Trader crossover project, and have a bunch of WIPs to show you as a result… I don’t normally like posting B&W WIP shots, but I think that I could use a sanity check on these guys – I’ve gone a bit mini-blind.

So, the idea is (very roughly) to reappraise the background fluff for Myrleia, barbarian warrior of the Azmaa. At the time, I loosely described the Azmaa as a tribe that forms part of a techno-barbarian civilisation – nominally under Imperial control, but infrequently visited and rather isolated from the wider galaxy. I imagine that such tribes would largely keep to themselves, but might gather once a year to share tales about noble star warriors and ravaging monsters from beyond the night sky. Many generations might pass between actually seeing such wonders and horrors, allowing such things to pass into legend. Technology would likely be treated with indifference – some things with long lasting power packs might be useful, (such as lights and crude bionics), but items that consumed ammunition and the like would be shunned in favour of more reliable low-tech solutions. Scavenged tech might also feature in either a functional or ornamental capacity. I also wondered what might happen if the mutant psyker gene were to manifest among the Azmaa – would such individuals be reviled and feared, or would they fulfil the role of Shaman… If the latter, then such individuals might become powerful in ways unimaginable to the dogmatic Imperium, mastering and manipulating elemental forces in unprecedented ways. Might some even become powerful enough to walk the planes between worlds? Travelling outside time and space, might they even be able to reach alternate realities? Well… I propose that they might indeed, and this idea is the basis for my Frostgrave Warband – a group of time/space/dimension hopping travellers from the Azmaa… y’know… because magic…

From a modelling perspective, I wanted to revisit the playfulness of mixing old fantasy minis with modern 40k bits, as I did for this lovely lady – Myrleia of the Azmaa:

Logic (?!?) dictated that I went back to the Chaos Thug line, so I snapped up a handful of old Marauder chaos archers & command figures as my starting point. They have a really cool Native American vibe that puts me in mind of the Muties from the rather excellent Amtrak Wars novels by Patrick Tilley. I haven’t read them for decades, but I do remember enjoying them very much as a teenager, and I’m planning to re-read the series for further inspiration. Anyway, I digress… The lead was chopped, filed and trimmed to remove the bits I didn’t want. Much swearing and blood-letting was offered up to the uncaring hobby gods, before modern plastic was cajoled into place – the aim was for just enough fantasy to show through, while being unmistakably 40k… a very fine line to tread. Did I succeed? You be the judge…

This is my ‘Wizard’ and his ‘Apprentice’ – really happy with how these guys turned out, the static pose of the older, (presumably wiser), man with the leg brace contrasts nicely with the younger man being more dynamic and aggressive looking. Their staffs really place them in the 41st Millennium – who knows, maybe the servitor skulls atop them still contain a shred of life. Note the use of clocks to suggest Chronomancery:

Next up we have some ‘thugs’… a mix of sci-fi hand weapons on show (literally in one case!). Not too much to say for these guys really, but they certainly look thuggish to me:

Here we have a pair of ‘Archers’ – I had to do a lot of searching to find suitably hi-tech bows for these guys, but I eventually sourced them in a cheap zombie survivors kit. I’m really pleased with the final result here – the ‘Archer’ class was the one I was most worried about pulling off:

Finally, we have a ‘Soldier’ (double handed weapon), and a ‘Treasure Hunter’ (bow & staff). I’m particularly pleased with the Treasure Hunter – the staff looks like it doubles as some kind of scanning device, which fits the class quite nicely I think:

So, that’s it to date – I have some Greenstuffing to do to tidy up some of the rougher bits, but the main build is largely finished. I think that I’ve managed to walk that fine line between fantasy and 40k here, but I would certainly welcome any comments and advice at this point… you know how it is when you are too close to a project, and you lose perspective

Oh, and as a bonus, and just to prove that I haven’t been entirely idle with the brush – I managed to finish off this enigmatic Lizard Stalker type… still no idea who or what he is, just the latest, (and most successful), of my efforts to translate Lizard Men into the 41st Millennium… Enjoy:

Happy Monday dudes, I’m happy to show off my now completed Navigator today – her chair is now finished, and the whole piece has come together quite nicely I think. I continued with the theme of an opulent gold and lacquer effect on the chair, and combined this with a weathered and tired look for Jarno, (the servitor skull), and the other mechanical parts, (though the guns look well maintained!). I’m happy with how the purple, black and yellow/gold all came together on the final piece, and I’m particularly pleased with the creepiness of Mezura herself. I intended her to have a Geisha vibe, but she also has elements of clowns and dolls – this is good, because I find all three of those things disturbing! That said, I’m hoping that the juxtaposition with the takuhatsugasa-hatted porters brings her back towards the idea of a Geisha, and that the pseudo-Japanese theme that I was shooting for comes through:

I also took a bit of time to bash together a very quick flying base for the chair! While the piece was in bits for painting, it occurred to me that a Navis Nobilite would certainly be wise to have an escape plan – just in case the palanquin got mobbed, or some other situation arose that required a burst of speed… The porters are eminently disposable in this situation 🙂

So, there we go – that was a fun and interesting little side project! I have a few more minis that are undercoated and ready for a lick of paint as and when, but my next big effort is going to be in the direction of a Frostgrave warband… watch this space 🙂

Happy Tuesday folks – quick one from me today, I had a bit of a painting frenzy last night and got Mezura the Navigator painted up. The takuhatsugasa style hats on the porters, (Flight of the Navigator – part 1), suggest feudal Japanese style theme to me, so I kept this idea going with Mezura… heck, even her name sounds vaguely Japanese, (purely coincidental!), and so I tried to capture a Geisha-esque vibe with the paint scheme. I’m fairly happy with how she came out – the white face makeup looks a bit Heath Ledger perhaps, but I think it should all make sense when I put the whole piece together. Anyhow, here she is:

So, just the chair part of the palanquin to go before the whole piece is finished! 🙂

Happy Friday chaps and chapesses! It has been a while since my last post, and I apologise for that… my painting mojo has been somewhat lacking of late – usual business of work, study and life getting busy, plus we’ve had a few good films on lately! I have, however, managed to paint up the palanquin bearers for my Navigator… I think I’m happy with them – I’ve gone for a yellow and purple livery which I’m pleased with, (though I nearly went mad counting out the cheques on the pennants!), but I’m not so sure about the palanquin frame… I was aiming for a lacquered oriental look, but it didn’t really come out as well as I imagined… I’ll live with it for now and see how it looks with the rest of the assembly – it shouldn’t be too tricky to change if I feel the need. On a side note – the new AoS gold paints are lurverly…

Anyway, enough jibber-jabber, here’s the photos:

I’ll crack on with the rest of the palanquin next, before getting on to the Navigator herself. The next two bits are a bit less complicated, so hopefully this project will accelerate a bit. I’ve also been working on the Lizardman/Ruststalker dude, (Lizard-stalker? Rust-man?), in between jobs, so he’s well on the way to being completed. After that? Well… I’ve been accumulating bits for a Frostgrave warband with a difference… should be good fun 🙂